Drew Dollar Camping World Trucks Daytona Preview (printable)
Drew Dollar: Driver, No. 51 JBL® Toyota
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Overview:
Event: NextEra Energy 250, Race 1 of 22, 100 Laps – 20/20/60; 250 Miles
Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (2.5-mile tri-oval)
Date/Broadcast: Feb. 12, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
The Data on Dollar:
- Drew Dollar will make his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut behind the wheel of the No. 51 JBL Tundra in Friday night’s season-opening event at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway as part of an eight-race schedule with Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) in 2021. Dollar showed a knack for superspeedway racing last year in the ARCA Menards Series, winning at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway last June and delivering a third-place finish at Daytona last February.
- In addition to Friday night’s race, the other seven races on Dollar’s schedule in the No. 51 Tundra this season will be Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (May 28), Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (June 12), Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway (June 18), Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (Sept. 16), Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway (Sept. 24), Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (Oct. 2) and the series finale at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway (Nov. 5). Dollar’s Toyota will feature primary sponsorship from Sunbelt Rentals, the premiere rental company in North America; JBL, the authority in engineering superior sound; and another sponsor to be named later this season.
- The Toyota Racing Development driver finished fourth in the ARCA Menards Series championship standings in 2020 after recording one win, four top-five and 14 top-10 finishes across 20 starts. Dollar led 40 laps en route to his lone series victory at Talladega Superspeedway last June. He also finished inside the top 10 in both of his ARCA Menards Series starts in 2019, including a sixth-place finish in his series debut at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. In addition to his part-time Camping World Truck Series schedule this season, he will also run 13 races on the ARCA Menards Series schedule this year.
- Dollar recorded two top-five and seven top-10 finishes with 49 laps led across eight NASAR K&N Pro Series East starts in 2019. He earned his first late model victory at South Boston (Va.) Speedway in June of 2019 and racked up numerous top-five and top-10 finishes that year. The Georgia native began his racing career in Bandoleros at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway in 2016 and in 2018 moved up to Legend Cars where he won 20 races across the country and was crowned the INEX Semi-Pro National Points champion.
- The Tundra that Dollar will be piloting on Friday night, KBM-26, is the same truck that Raphael Lessard drove to his first-career Camping World Trucks victory at Talladega last October. Lessard narrowly edged past former Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne just before a caution on the final lap ended the race.
- Mardy Lindley begins his first season as a crew chief at Kyle Busch Motorsports. Lindley has guided his drivers to 32 wins and four ARCA Menards Series East championships since 2013, including back-to-back titles with Sam Mayer the last two seasons. Additionally, he earned the ARCA Menards Series Sioux Chief Showdown championship with Mayer in 2020. Behind the wheel, the second-generation driver won 11 races on the Pro Cup Series from 2000 to 2006 and was crowned the series champion in 2001.
- KBM owner-driver Kyle Busch will make five starts in the No. 51 Cessna Tundra in 2021. Busch will get behind the wheel for the first time at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (March 5) and his schedule will also include Atlanta Motor Speedway (March 20), Richmond (Va.) Raceway (April 17), Kansas Speedway in Kansas City (May 1) and Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (June 26).
Drew Dollar, Driver Q&A:
Drew Dollar | Daytona Preview
How excited are you for your eight-race schedule with KBM?
“I’m really excited about these eight races that I have coming up. It is a great opportunity with a good team and a team with a lot of history. It’s really the best opportunity that I could ask for. I’m ready to put in the work and get after it this season.”
Do you think superspeedway racing is something that you are going to excel at this year?
“Last year, we were really good in the Camry in the ARCA series. I was comfortable on the tracks. I think our JBL Tundra will be good this season in the trucks. I am looking forward to it. Hopefully, we keep the same pattern going on and end up at the front of the field.”
How have you prepared for Daytona?
“I have been in the simulator for a little bit of everything feeling out the trucks. I have been watching a lot of film from past Daytona races. I have also been in the gym working on the physical and mental stuff because I feel like those are important when showing up at Daytona. I feel confident heading into the season. I think Daytona is a good race to start it off at.”
Drew Dollar Career Highlights:
- Across 22 career ARCA Menards Series starts has one win, 47 laps led, four top-five and 16 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 8.6.
- Picked up his first career ARCA Menards Series victory at Talladega Superspeedway June 20, 2020.
- Finished fourth in the ARCA Menards Series championship standings in 2020 after recording one win, four top-five and 14 top-10 finishes across 20 starts.
- Recorded two top-five and seven top-10 finishes with 49 laps led across eight NASAR K&N Pro Series East starts in 2019.
- Began his racing career in Bandoleros at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway in 2016 and in 2018 moved up to Legend Cars where he won 20 races across the country and was crowned the INEX Semi-Pro National Points champion.
Drew Dollar’s No. 51 JBL Tundra:
KBM-026: The No. 51 JBL team will unload KBM-26 for Friday night’s season-opening event. Raphael Lessard picked up his first-career Camping World Truck Series at Talladega Superspeedway last October in the Tundra’s last outing. In addition to one career win, KBM-26 earned the pole once, with David Gilliland at Talladega in 2018.
KBM Notes of Interest:
- KBM drivers have collected one win, three poles, 102 laps led, four top-five and eight top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 17.1 across 28 starts at Daytona. Owner-driver Kyle Busch picked up the team’s lone victory at the 2.5-mile tri-oval in dramatic fashion in the 2014 season opener, finishing .016 seconds ahead of fellow Toyota competitor Timothy Peters.
- KBM holds the Camping World Truck Series records for most career wins (80) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). In addition to collecting a series-record seven Owner’s Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers: Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).
- With 34 victories, the No. 51 is the winningest number in KBM’s Truck Series fleet.
